Bright landscaping has perked up the front of an updated 1955 Shepherd Forest property, earning the property Yard of the Month status in its section of the tight-knit neighborhood, located north of the North Loop and stretching east from T.C. Jester. The home sprouted on MLS yesterday with an asking price of $260,000. Views of the bloomage from inside the home are well-shaded, though:

Corner windows sharpen the edges of a buffed-up 1956 home with mod-fied interior (top) located on a corner lot in Shepherd Forest. The walkway across the lawn (above) leads to the street that determines the property address, but the tomato-red front door faces the cross street. So does the double-bay garage tucked closer to the utility easement running behind the fully fenced property. Earlier this week, the sideways-sited home landed on the market. Its $279,000 asking price is just over $100K more than when it last sold, back in August 2011.

That’s a Raising Cane’s joint going up at 3007 Ella Blvd. just north of 610, soon to become the closest location of the Louisiana-born chicken fingers chain to Houston’s Inner Loop sanctum. Formerly on that site: the Ella Square Apartments; the city forced the owner of the derelict apartments to tear them down 2 Decembers ago. Next door to the Raising Cane’s construction site is the just-opened Carl’s Jr. built on the north side of the same property. Not enough OakShepherd Forest drive-thru action for you? They’ll be joining the McDonald’s, Taco Bell, KFC, Burger King, and Popeye’s already on that short stretch of Ella south of Stonecrest.